Runners for the One Run for Boston charity relay carry the baton to the site of the World Trade Center in lower Manhattan / Melanie Eversley/USA TODAY

by Melanie Eversley, USA TODAY

by Melanie Eversley, USA TODAY

Friday's pass through the greater New York area for a cross-country charity running relay brought a few mishaps and some chuckles.

First, runners for the One Run for Boston who took the baton at Riverbank Park in Newark discovered there was no police escort for their stage that would pass through industrial areas, some highway areas and residential neighborhoods.

The group had to go to a police station nearby and plead for help. One officer took pity and agreed to step in.

As the group stepped off a boat that carried them across the Hudson River into New York City, police officer after police officer sent them on detours through the maze of the World Trade Center neighborhood, where construction is everywhere. Instead of running toward a gaggle of journalists waiting to shoot pictures, the group came up from about a block behind them.

The journalists heard the cheers from spectators, turned to see what was going on and cursed under their breath as they sprinted toward the runners. They missed the picture. Representatives with the 911 Memorial asked the runners to do it over.

Still, those trip ups did not seem to steal from an experience that runners describe as magic.

Capt. Jim Chambers who voluntarily escorted the Newark-to-New York City runners last year across the river in his boat returned and did the same. The runners got to see a One Run ad placed on a public bus shelter by a relay supporter. Lt. Joe LaPointe of Ladder 114 of the Fire Department of New York presented organizers with a badge. The organizers will present fire badges from the communities they've run to fire officials in Boston, where two firefighters died on the job March 26. And where last year, the baton arrived in New York to maybe a handful of glances from curious passersby, this year's arrival included a gauntlet of clapping spectators.

Runner Suzanne Petro of Salado, Texas, grew up in New Jersey and remembers and misses the twin towers.

"It's just kind of empowering to just run to them," said Petro, 52, referring to the National September 11 Memorial and Museum.

Runner Tanya Tenturier-Brinkley said the atmosphere during the run was simple. Sometimes the group talked and sometimes they were quiet, just looking at their surroundings or focusing on their own thoughts, said the elementary school teacher who lives in Newark.

Like many of the other runners, the relay gave Tenturier-Brinkley a training goal. She started back running again in November after running track in high school. She'd hoped to work her way up to a 10-minute mile before Friday's run but she surprised herself.

"I was logging about 37 miles a week, said Tenturier-Brinkley, 38. "I was running 8:15."

Like group leader Lorrie Krebs, runner Jill Corrigan is a return runner from last year.

Searching for wards to describe why, Corrigan shook her head, looked to the side and said, "It was just one of the most amazing experiences ever."

The relay was due to pass through the Bronx and Westchester late Friday, Connecticut on Saturday and finish at Boston's Copley Square Sunday evening. Organizers aim to raise $1 million for the survivors of the April 15, 2013, bombing. As of Friday night, the total raised was $407,205.